Air circulator



Feb. 21, 1939.r

AIR C IRCULATOR Filed oon. 24, 193e H. J. KRACKOWIZER 3 Sheets-Sheet ld? LJ/ Feb. 21, l1939. H 1 KRACKQWlzl-:R 2,148,238

AIR CIRCULATOR Filed 00T.. 24. 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb'. 21, 1939. H,l KRACKOWQER 2,148,238

AIR C IRCULATOR Filed ocr. 24; 193e s sheets-sheet s Patented Feb. 21,1939 UNITED sTArEs PAT-ENT. OFFICE My invention relates to coolingsystems and the like and has reference more particularly to improvedmeans for providing eflicient circulation of cooled air within arefrigerator compartment.

Owing to tle accumulation of moisture on the cooling units ofrefrigerators and the dripping of such moisture therefrom, it istheusual practice to install drip pans or the like under the cooling unitsto collect and drain away the moisture therefrom. Such cooling units,however, are frequently located at the top of the refrigeratorcompartment and provided with forced draft facilities to circulate airdownwardly therethrough for cooling the compartment and the drip pans asprovided heretofore under the cooling unit tend to deflect the currentof cold air toward the sides of the refrigerator compartment therebyshort circuiting the cold air back to the intake at the top of thecooling unit and interfering' with proper circulation of cooled air tothe lower portion of the refrigerator compartment with the result thatthe compartment is not thoroughly and uniformly cooled and theeiiiciency of the refrigerator is thereby impaired. Moreover as themerchandise in the compartment is usually located around the sidesthereof the cold air is blown directly against the merchandise and thiscauses objectionable dehydration thereof.

The principal objects of 'my invention are to improve the circulationand distribution of cooled air throughout the refrigerator compartment;to avoid interference by the drip pans with circulation of cooled air toportions of the compartment therebelow; to control the outiiow of cooledair from an overhead cooling unit so as to avoid short circuiting of thecold air back to the intake and insure positive circulation of cold airto and throughout the bottom of the compartment; to provide an improvedcooling unit which has facilities for directing the airdownwardly'therefrom beyond the drip pan; to effectively insulate thewalls of the unit so as to prevent any condensation of moisture where itmight drip into the compartment'and onto the contents thereof; toprovide an improved arrangement of coils and control of the refrigerantsupply thereto; to supply moisture to the circulated air and preserveproper conditions of humidity in the refrigerating compartment; topermltconvenient removal and replacement of the drip pan; and in generalto provide a simple and compact refrigerating unit which is particularlysuitable for overhead reference is had to the accompanying drawings l inwhich: Fig. 1 is a side view of a refrigeratingunit constructed inaccordance with my invention and suspended in a refrigeratingcompartment; 5

Fig. 2 is an end view of thunit within the compartment;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the refrigerator unit with partsbroken away to disclose details of the constrction;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the refrigerating unittaken substantialy on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is an end view of the coil assembly.

Referring to the drawings, in which I have l5 shown, for purposes ofillustration, a prefered embodiment of my invention, the referencenumeral III indicates the refrigerating or cooling unit as a whole whichis suspended from the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment and com-20 prises a coil in which liquid refrigerant is evaporated to absorbheat, said coil being enclosed in a casing through which the compartmentair is circulated and recirculated downwardly by a blower so that theair repeatedly comes in con- 25 tact with and is cooled by the coil andthe temperature within the compartment thereby reduced.

In the present illustrated structure the refrigerating compartment II isofelongated rec- 30 tangular form andthe refrigerating or cooling unitI0, which also is preferablynelongated, has a casing with side and endwalls I2 and I3 respectively and a top wall I4, this top wall being-provided with spaced openings I5 for the fans 35 I6 of two blowers,each operated by a separate electric motor I1 which is supported on thetop wall 'I4 by a spider I8. Separate conductors I9 (only one of whichis shown) lead to these motors I1 from an electrical connection box `2II40 which is mounted on the side of the casing andv to which currentissupplied by the conductor 2|. Inverted U-shaped hangers 22 straddlethe hangersby which the cooling unit is secured to the ceiling beingsuitably elevated to suspendy the casing `I2--I3 a suiiicient distancebelow the ceiling to permit circulation of air thereover and to thefansv I6.

Mounted within the casing I2-I3 is a coil assembly which is indicated asa whole at 25 and comprises a group of parallel tubes 26 which aremounted on) and supported by end plates 21 and 55 28 and have thinplates or fins 29 arranged thereon in spaced relation between the endplates 21 p and 28 to facilitate absorption of heat by the coil.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the tubes 26 are arrangedin four vertically spaced or superposed banks Yor tiers with the tubes26 of each bank connected in series by return bends 30 at one end and 3|at the other end and these banks of tubes are in turn connected 4inseries by the return bends 32, 33 and 34. 'I'he expansion '-.falve 35through which liquid refrigerant is supplied in the usual manner to thecoil is connected by the pipe 36 with the next to the highest bank oftubes as shown in Fig. 5, and from this bank of tubes the refrigerant isconducted through the return bend 32 to the next lowest bank of tubes,then through the return bend 33 to the bottom bank of tubes and fromthis bottom bank of tubes through the return bend 34 to the top bank oftubes directly above which is a marginal drying coll 31 through whichthe refrigerant is conducted from the top bank of tubes to the dischargeend 33 of the coil assembly which said discharge end leads in the usualmanner to facilities such as a compresser (not shown) which withdrawsevaporated refrigerant from the coil and compresses same intothe liquidform in which it is returned to the coil through the pipe 39 andexpansion valve 35. The expansion valve has a thermostatic control of atype commonly employed for this purpose, which automatically regulatesthe feed of liquid refrigerant therethrough to the coil and the bulb 40of this thermostatic control is clamped on the dryer coil 31 as shown inFig. 4 and connected as indicated at 4l to the operating mechanism ofthe expansion valve 35 so that the latter is controlled by thetemperature at the dryer coil.

The arrangement of the refrigerant supply so 4 that it first enters thenext to the highest bank of tubes 26 and then passes consecutivelythrough the succeeding lower banks' of tubes from the lowest bank ofwhich it returns to the upper bank of tubes, thereafter passing throughthe dryer coil 31, is particularly advantageous as it insures exposureof the circulated air to cold tubes as it flows downwardly through thelower portion of the cooling unit and is discharged from the bottomthereof while the refrigerant, in its final passage through the coolingunit is subjected to` the warmest air and complete evaporation andthorough drying of the refrigerant is assuredY of the dry gas and theexpansion valve accordl ingly is not subject to erratic control whichoccurs when the bulb is applied where more or less liquid refrigerant ispresent.

The end plates 21 and 28 which support the coil are spaced from the endwalls I3 of the casing 4to accommodate therebetween the return bends ofthe coil as well as the terminal extensions 36 and 38, and these plates21 and 28 have out-turned flanges 42 therearound,` the side flanges ofwhich engage against the side walls I2 of the casing and are securedthereto and to the hangers 22 by the bolts 43 which secure the hangersto the casing.

Moisture condenses on and drips from the cooling coils of refrigeratingdevices and it is cusi 75 :necessarily located in the path of the airthat is amazes,

.circulated through the coils by the blower and tend. to deflect the airlaterally toward the sides of the refrigerator compartment with theresult that positivev circulation of the cold air to and throughout thebottom of the compartment is prevented and the compartment accordinglyis not thoroughly and -uniformly cooled and the efficiency of therefrigerator is impaired. To overcome this objectionable interferencewith proper circulation and distribution of cold'air that has beenoccasioned by previous drip pan arrangements, I have provided the casingof the cooling unit with an enlarged skirt-like bottom within which thedrip pan is located and by which any laterally deflected air isredirected downwardly so that short circuiting is avoided and pesitivecirculation of the cold air to the bottom `of the compartment anduniform cooling throughout the compartment is assured.

To this end the casing l2-'l3 which encloses the coils is flared as at44 and terminates in' an enlarged straight walled enclosure 45 withinwhich the drip pan is located and by which air that is deflectedlaterally by the drip pan is redirected and discharged downwardly towardthe bottom of the compartment. Preferably the drip pan is of double deckform with a top section 46 having acentral opening 41 under which alower section 48 is suspended from the top section 46 jby straps 45 sothat air may circulate freely through the opening 41 and outwardlybetween wardly the air that is deflected outwardly by the top section 46so that the air which is deflected laterally by the drip pan isredirected downwardlyin several separate streams.

Angle plates 5| and 52 are secured to and extend inwardly from the'flaring wall 44 along the sides andends respectively of the casing andterminate at the bottom of the coil unit as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, andthe angle plates 52 have flanges 53 at their lower ends which are at thesame level as the bottom flanges 42 of the coil supporting end plates 21and 28 and have cross bars 54 secured thereto for supporting the drippan assembly within the enlargement 44-45 of the casing. These bars 54have hook shaped ends 55 which provide seats for the downturned ends 5Bof straps 51 on the upper drip pan .section 46 which said Aparts 55 and5G by their'inter-engagement support the drip pan assembly in place.To'remove the drip pan assembly it is necessary to merely slide sameend:- wise whereupon the hook ends 56 of the straps l51 are slidsidewise from the end seats of the bars 54 and release the drip pan'assembly whereas replacement thereof may be readily accom'- plished byengaging the strap ends 55 at one side of the assembly with thecorresponding end seats of the bars 54 whereupon the drip panl .rssemblymay then .be Vswung up so that the straps 51 at the opposite side snapup over and engage the respective end seats 55 of the bars 54, saidstraps 51 being suillciently springy for this purpose.

The upper drip pan section 46 drains through theopening 41 into thelower drip pan section, and to convey away the water that accumulatesandasse in the latter section an outlet 58 may be provided at one end.with a nipple 59 for convenient attachment of a drain pipe which maylead to any desired place of disposal and the wall 5B 5 whichV dependsfrom the upper section 46 may l erator compartment. and onto thecontents.

have an opening 60 therethrough to accommodate said pipe.Y

To avoid condensation on any cooled surfaces from which'moisture mightdrop into the refrigthereof, the walls l2 and I3 are provided asindicated at 6i and 62 respectively with heat insulating linings whichextend down to the angle plates El and 52 respectively and the walls 44l' and 45. of the casing enlargement below these angle plates 5I and 52are also provided with a heat insulating lining 63. Moreover, the drippan sections 46 and 48 are also lined with heat insulating material asindicated at 64 and 65 respectively, and by reason of this insulation ofthese wallsiand the drip pans, no condensation can occur on the unitexcept where it will be collected in the drip pans.

`From the foregoing it will be apparent that' while-my drip panarrangement is adapted to collect moisturefroin' the coils aseffectively as drip pans heretofore employed, my drip pan arrangementdoes not interfere with the supplyl and distributienet the cold airtothe bottom of the refrigerator compartment as allthe de ectedair isredirectedsand discharged downwardly from the cooling unit and theentire Y compartment is accordingly uniformly subjected to circulationof the cold air. Moreover, as the blowing of the air against the wetsurfaces'l of 45 1compartment is effected.

and the water in the drip pan sections tends to humidity the circulatedair, the proper humidity of the air is assured'at the bottom/of thecompartment as well as throughout the rest of the compartment and byreason of the resultant uniformity of humidity and the Yuniformity of'circulation of air throughout the entire compartment, greater eiiiciencyof operation and more satisfactory vpreservation of foodstuifs in theWhile I have shown and described my inventioniin a preferred form, I amaware that vari-V ous chang .and modiiications may` be made withoutdeparting'from the principles of my in- 5 vention, the scope of which isto be .determined by the-appended claims.

Ilclaim as my.invention: L

1. A cooling. system comprising superposed banks or horizontally, spacedtubes with uns thereon, a'marginsl coil` above-the uppermost bank oftuba, means for supplying refrigeranttoanintermediatebankoftubeasaidbanksof'tubessnd-marginalcoilbeingarrangedtoconin the direction of thedischargefrom said blower.

2..The combination with a cooling unit of a housing therefor having askirt-like enlargement `at the bottom. a drip pan within the saidenlargement and spaced therefrom, a. blower discharging downwardlythrough `the housing against the drip pan, said skirt-like enlargement.being arranged to redirect deflected air from thevd-rip pan downwardlyaround the drip pan.. 3. The combinationl with a cooling unit of ahousing therefor having a skirt-like enlargement at the bottom, a drippan within the said enlargementnand spaced therefrom, a blowerdischarging downwardly through the housing against the drip pan,saidskirt-like enlargement ,fbelng arranged to redirect deflected .airfrom the drip pan downwardly around the drip pan, and heat insulatingmeans on the inner faces of the housing and enlargement walls,J and inthe drip pan.

4.-In a cooling unit, the -combination of a housing, a blower operableto circulate air downwardly through the housing, saidhousing havingtherein cooling coils withmoisture collecting means thereunder, s aidhousing, cooling coils and moisture collecting means being arranged toconfine the downwardly circulated air to a path leading through a zonebetween the moisture collecting means and the cooling coils, and saidhousing being provided with means to redirect the air from said zonedownwardly below.

the moisture collecting means.

5, In a cooling unit, the combination of a housing, a blower operable tocirculate air downwardly through the housing, .said-housing havingtherein cooling coils lwithmoisture collecting means' thereunder, saidhousing,` cooling coils and moisturecollectingmeans being arranged to-coniine the downwardly circulated air to a path'leading through a sonebetween the\mois '-turecollectingmeansandthecoolingcollsandtherefromlsterallyagainstthesidewallsofthe housing, saidside walls beingarranged to redirect the airdownwardly below the moisturecollectingmeans.

' HERMANN J. KRACKOWIlZ'IR.

